Rose McGowan claims Asia Argento confessed to having sex with Jimmy Bennett, who accused her of sexual assault

Rose McGowan, who called Asia Argento her "ride or die," said "there absolutely should be no leeway or tolerance for sexual assault." (ALBERTO PIZZOLI / AFP/Getty Images)

Asia Argento allegedly admitted to Rose McGowan’s partner that she had slept with Jimmy Bennett, the former child actor who accused her of sexual assault.

Bennett, who claims Argento assaulted him in a California hotel when he was 17, settled with the actress last year for $380,000, according to documents acquired by the New York Times.

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“At the time I believed there was still a stigma to being in the situation as a male in our society,” Bennett, now 22, told the Times. “I didn’t think that people would understand the event that took place from the eyes of a teenage boy. I would like to move past this event in my life, and today I chose to move forward, no longer in silence.”

Argento admitted to the payout, but said in a statement to The Guardian that she “never had any sexual relationship with Bennett.”

McGowan, however, said in a statement Monday that Argento had admitted to her partner, Rain Dove, that she had slept with Bennett.

“(Dove) said that they had been texting with Asia and that Asia had revealed that she had indeed slept with Jimmy Bennet. Rain also shared that Asia had stated that she’d been receiving unsolicited nudes of Jimmy since he had been 12,” McGowan said in a statement to the Daily News.

“Asia mentioned in these texts that she didn’t take any action on those images. No reporting to authorities, to the parents, or blocking of Jimmy’s social media. Not even a simple message, ‘Don’t send me these images. They are inappropriate.’ There were a few other details revealed as well that I am not at liberty to mention in this statement as investigators do their job.”

McGowan also said that Argento claimed she was being extorted by Bennett during a trip to Berlin after Anthony Bourdain’s death.

Argento said in a previous statement that Bourdain had made the payment to Bennett because the couple “no longer suffer any further intrusions in our life.”

McGowan echoed similar thoughts to those of leaders of the #MeToo movement, specifically that their cause defends all victims.

“I had to take a step back and realize that in my own activism while I fight hard with passion — I need to evolve. In the past I have been occasionally angry. As a victim I was justified in fiery feelings. But I know that those accused are the friends, parents, and family members of other people. There absolutely should be no leeway or tolerance for sexual assault. Hard stop. NONE,” McGowan said.

“Victims also shouldn’t be told how they should react or what they should say about their abusers. However as allies to the victim and voyeurs of an event we should find a better way to balance support of the victim with due process for the accused. I’ve never claimed to be perfect. This week especially has made me come to terms with the fact that we all have a lot of growing to do, including myself.”

She ended her note with a plea to Argento about Harvey Weinstein, who both women have accused of sexual assault: “Be the person you wish Harvey could have been.”